Fertility of men with and without a varicocele

The fertility of 742 men visiting our male infertility clinic was studied. A comparison was made between patients operated on for varicocele and patients treated in other ways. Of the men with a varicocele, 37.8% impregnated their partners; of the men without a varicocele, 21.5%. By subdivision of the total group of patients into those with sperm counts above and those with sperm counts below 20 X 10(6)/ml, it appeared that only men with low sperm counts operated on for varicocele showed a significantly higher fertility, as compared with patients not having a varicocele. It is suggested that patients not having oligozoospermia perhaps have spermatozoal defects other than too low a number as the principal cause of their infertility which do not significantly improve after varicocele operation.